


Glasses Girl

by Shihanne



Category: Digimon Adventure Zero Two | Digimon Adventure 02
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-20
Updated: 2014-07-30
Packaged: 2017-12-29 22:45:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 20,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1011003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shihanne/pseuds/Shihanne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What did it take for a girl to grow up into a woman?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. April 2003 - Miyako Start

_How are you doing, everyone? Inoue Miyako here!_

_Hm, I guess there aren’t a lot of interesting things to say right now. We recently defeated Diablomon again, and that was pretty cool, but other than that there hasn’t been a lot going on. I am starting middle school, though! It already feels really different from elementary school, but in the end, school is school, isn’t it?_

_Well, I guess that’s it for now!_

* * *

 

The idea of “coming of age” in such a brief story was always such a cliché. Sometimes you could live for long periods of time without changing at all. Sometimes you could be one person one year and a completely different one the next. Every so often someone would tell you that you’d entered a new chapter of your life, and you’d believe them up until your life started settling into a daily schedule that wasn’t all so different from what you were used to.

Middle school, Miyako had decided, was not very different from elementary school.

Sure, there were uniforms, there was the computer club headed by Koushirou, there were the somewhat more difficult lessons, but school was school. Schedule-wise, the only one thing different that Miyako acknowledged as somewhat significant was that, now that she was a member of the middle school computer club, it was harder to hang out with Daisuke and the others after school. It was convenient to be on a campus close to them, but it simply wasn’t as easy as it had been back when they’d all gone together to Odaiba Elementary.

She’d fallen into a pretty easy schedule after a while: get up in the morning, meet up with Iori and Takeru, walk to school together, split to their respective schools, have lessons, attend club, have a wild card at the end of the day (varying from leaving early to meet with the others or just waiting for Iori and Takeru, saying goodbye to everyone briefly, and going home), eat dinner with family, go to bed. On rare occasions, she would join the others to check out the Digital World. There wasn’t much to do nowadays there, but it was always pleasant just being there, especially for Hawkmon and the other Digimon. On weekends, she and the others – often joined by Ken – would hang out somewhere, usually at someone’s place.

In the end, her school life was still pretty similar to what it had been before…and yet there was something that felt distinctly different about what was going on now.

* * *

 

It was a relatively idyllic day in the computer club, with the group working on a project. The first interruption to Miyako’s workflow was a casual “Hey, Miyako” from the boy next to her.

“What is it?”

“Why do you keep going off to hang out with those elementary school kids?”

Miyako gave an unimpressed “hmph”. She didn’t like this boy; during her first day in this club, he’d made a remark about not expecting the student Koushirou had been talking so well of to be a girl, and immediately Miyako had decided she was going to spend the rest of the year trying to kick his ass. “They’re my friends. Do you have a problem with that?”

“Well, they’re elementary school students…”

“So what? They’ll be in middle school eventually, so I don’t see a problem.”

“They’re still elementary school students. You should hang around people more your age.”

“Hey, hey…” said Koushirou, interjecting into the conversation. “Ah, Miyako-kun, can you please deliver this?” He handed Miyako a form.

Miyako took the form and promptly ran out of the room, very happy to not be in there anymore.

* * *

“Miyako-san!”

Miyako was greeted in the hallway by none other than Takeru, Patamon, and Hawkmon.

“Ah! Hawkmon! Takeru-kun!”

Takeru walked up to Miyako and handed her something, which Miyako suspected had ohagi in it. “Here, Iori-kun told me to give you this. Is the computer club treating you well?”

“Hm, well, the computer club’s the computer club. There are interesting people and people I don’t like as much. But with Izumi-senpai as captain, I think you could say everything’s going well.” She sighed. “I wish I could keep you around…”

“Miyako-san, can we go to the Digital World sometime soon?”

“Of course! We haven’t been there too recently, have we? I’ve been missing it myself.”

“I’d be open to going,” said Takeru. “And I’m sure the others would, too.”

“Then it’s settled! Bingo!”

She grinned at Takeru and ran off with Hawkmon, only yelling back a “tell Iori-kun I said thank you for the ohagi!”

Takeru blinked, wanting to yell back at Miyako that she was taking Hawkmon back to the computer room where everyone would see him, and sighed. She’d probably figure out a way to deal with it…that was how Miyako worked, anyway.


	2. August 2003 - Second Memorial

_Hey! Inoue Miyako here!_

_It's summer break, so I've mostly been spending time hanging out with my friends. This isn't to say we're not busy, though! There are lots of crazy things happening in the Digital World, and more and more Chosen Children are popping up each day. Izumi-senpai's going left and right trying to get them help as soon as possible, so it's tough._

_Still, we're doing well! Everyone's always working hard, so it's reassuring. We are the Chosen Children, after all – there aren't a lot of things that can get in our way for long!_

_I guess that's it. Bye for now!_

* * *

"Taichi-senpai!"

Daisuke waved cheerily, leading Miyako, Iori, Takeru, and Hikari behind him. Taichi greeted them, in turn having Yamato, Sora, and Jou with him.

"Eh? Isn't Mimi-oneesama coming?" said Miyako.

"It's still an awkward time in America, but she'll be here in a minute," said Sora.

"Ken's not here yet, either," said Daisuke. "Honestly, he's always late…"

As if on cue, Mimi and Ken came in running from different directions, apologizing in their own ways – Mimi casually and cheerfully brushing it off in her bubbly manner and Ken apologizing for causing them to wait.

"Well, well. Is everyone here? We'll get going, then," said Taichi.

They started to walk through a path of trees, following Taichi's lead. Taichi was following the path rather confidently, with all the other trailing behind.

"Taichi, where are we going?" asked Yamato.

"You'll see, you'll see!"

They continued walking after a fashion until they reached a clearing in the forest. Taichi grinned and sat down cross-legged right in the middle of it.

"We're here!"

"Eh?" Daisuke started inspecting the area around him. "What's so special about this place?"

Taichi grinned with the smile that he always gave when he was very, very proud with himself. "This is a place where something amazing happened four years ago…"

"Oh! I remember!" said Jou.

Before he could continue and explain what exactly he had just remembered, a crowd of Digimon ran towards them – Agumon and the others, running towards the group to greet them.

The older Chosen Children embraced their partners, and the younger ones took some time to enjoy the scene before Daisuke managed to ask "…so, Taichi-san…what's the important part of this place?"

Taichi laughed and gave his cheerful smile again, and Agumon answered for him.

"This is where Taichi and I first met!"

* * *

If it hadn't been for the significance of the location, it would have been easy to miss. It was simply a small clearing in the forest, nothing too special – yet there was a sort of heaviness in the air.

Four years prior, in 1999...four years prior, Agumon, then a Koromon, had met Taichi for the first time. Seven Digimon had met their seven human partners, creating a bond that could never be broken.

"So this is where it all started, huh…" Daisuke looked around. "That must have been quite a shock for Taichi-san, falling out of the sky like that, only to see something like that…"

"Come to think of it, I think it'd be more accurate to say that Miyako-san found me rather than me finding Miyako-san," said Hawkmon.

"Hm, I suppose you're right," said Miyako. Indeed, over a year ago, she'd journeyed to that temple with Iori, Sora, and Koushirou. Yet somehow, such a place like that felt so…grandiose compared to this humble clearing in the middle of the forest.

They quickly set up picnic there and ate, with the senior Chosen Children and their Digimon waxing nostalgic about things. Miyako watched and listened with interest, but there was something nagging at her...

"You need to stop thinking that way, Miyako-chan."

"Eh?"

Mimi came up from behind Miyako and giggled. "You were thinking something silly like how impressive-sounding we are, right?"

"I…something like that."

"It's written all over your face." She came close to Miyako and whispered. "Look at Ichijouji-kun."

Miyako looked at Ken and Daisuke, who were listening to some story Taichi was telling about food and camping out near an unstable cliffside. Ken was completely and utterly all ears – _ah, yes, he wasn't able to learn about this last year, for obvious reasons_ – while Daisuke threw in a comment once in a while about how cool Taichi was.

"He looks pretty interested, don't you think? Yet it's been a little under a year since we became friends with him and we still don't know a lot about him. And to be honest, I still think there's something I'd like to know." She winked. "So…would you be interested in telling me about your little adventures from last year?"

"M-me? But I don't think it's all that interesting compared to…"

"And I told you, you need to stop thinking that way. You and everyone here ended up saving the Digital World and our world in the end after all, didn't we? So we're all the same, we're all Chosen Children."

"I would be interested in what you have to tell us, too, Miyako-kun," said Koushirou.

Miyako paused nervously for a moment, but eventually started with a random story about how she and Daisuke had accidentally caused some damage to a Punimon village. Soon after, Daisuke chimed in with his take on the story, and before long it was the six of them telling their long-winded anecdotes to the others.

And that was when Miyako realized that she really did have a story to tell, after all.


	3. January 2004 - The Best Ramen

_It's me, Inoue Miyako!_

_Hey, hey, did you know? Yamato-senpai's band, the TEEN-AGE WOLVES, is still hard at work – and I'm still hard at work helping them out! Of course, it's not easy all of the time…and don't tell Yamato-senpai I said this, but man, sometimes his music is hard to work with!_

_Still, it's a lot of fun, and besides, I always end up getting it done anyway. That said, the band has a big thing coming up soon, so we're hard at work. It's a lot of stress to deal with, but…well, you know me, I always find a way to pull through._

_Well, then, I'd better get back to work!_

* * *

Miyako, Hawkmon, and Yamato arrived at Daisuke's door at late afternoon. Daisuke welcomed them in warmly, as if they were regular visitors.

"Thanks for letting us use the computer, Daisuke," said Miyako. "It's really annoying how so few people have a computer with what we need on it…"

"Have you asked Koushirou-san yet?"

"I did, but he's busy today. As always…"

Jun, who was on the phone with someone, barely poked her head out of a nearby door, said, "Oh, is Miyako-chan here? Welcome," and closed the door again. Miyako had a feeling she hadn't even seen her or Yamato there.

"Ah, well. Can't be helped. Anyway, the computer's over here."

Daisuke led them over to the computer, where they started hammering at work at the computer trying to figure out whatever it was that Yamato's band needed. At first, Daisuke and V-mon took interest in what they were doing, but after three hours (and lots of agitated yelling on Miyako's part) V-mon eventually became bored and so Daisuke decided to take him out to play. Telling them to call for him if they needed anything, he left the room with V-mon.

* * *

Three hours later, Daisuke came back to check on them, only to find the situation the same as ever – Miyako getting progressively more irritated at the computer and Yamato trying to calm her down. Amused, Daisuke sat down next to Miyako.

"What's the problem?"

"I'd like to explain it to you, but I don't think you'd be able to understand it since you're not familiar with music software."

"Eh, that's a shame." Daisuke continued watching the screen intently, but sure enough, he couldn't make heads or tails of it.

A few minutes later, Miyako's stomach started growling.

"Ehehehe…" said Miyako, a bit embarrassed.

"Miyako-san, you haven't eaten for several hours," said Hawkmon.

"I guess I got kind of distracted and all into it…" said Miyako.

"We should definitely get a bite to eat," said Yamato. "Should we all go and get something?"

"No, no, wait a minute," Daisuke said with a wide grin. "You all came here, so I should be the one to treat you! You stay here and keep working. I'll be right back!"

He left with V-mon and dashed out towards the kitchen. Miyako, Hawkmon, and Yamato could only blink before getting back to work.

* * *

They exited the room when they heard Daisuke calling to them from the kitchen. As soon as they entered, they saw Daisuke with a large pot and three bowls.

"…Eh? Daisuke? What's this?"

"Ramen, of course! I've been working on my skills making it, so I wanted you guys to try it." He poured the soup and noodles into the bowls, put them on a tray, and carried them to the table, still looking very satisfied with himself.

"Ramen, huh? Well, I remember you saying you wanted to be a ramen cart owner, so I guess this is the first step," said Yamato.

"It's not just being a ramen cart owner," said Daisuke. "It can't just be good ramen, it has to be the best ramen in the world. So here, have some!" He spread out the bowls on the table.

"Daisuke put all of his effort into it," said V-mon.

"You should be honored, you know, having the best ramen in the world!" said Daisuke.

"That's quite a tall order, Daisuke," said Miyako as she took the bowl. "Let's eat!"

Miyako stuffed the first bite of noodles into her mouth. Immediately, she realized there wasn't much she could say about it. How could one describe ramen like this? Such a thing seemed like an impossible task. Perhaps if she could force herself, she could come up with -

\- something like "incredibly mediocre".

A quick look up at Yamato confirmed that similar thoughts were going through his head, as well.

Daisuke was easily able to figure out what they were thinking, but he continued laughing anyway. "…Not that delicious, eh?"

"Well, I mean, it's pretty good, I mean we're not trying to say it's bad – "

" – it's so-so," said Miyako.

"You're so blunt, Miyako-san," said Hawkmon.

But Daisuke only laughed, clearly undeterred.

"Well, well, I'm not expecting to get it perfectly right on the first try." He ate some noodles out of his own bowl. "Hm, I probably should have cooked it a little less…"

"So then you probably shouldn't have called it the 'best ramen in the world'…"

"Hm, but I don't like to think of it that way." He stuffed a few more slurps of noodles into his mouth and swallowed before continuing. "I mean, I think it would be more accurate to say it's not the best ramen in the world _yet_. Because unless I think it definitively has to be the best, I won't be as motivated to get there, right?"

He smiled cheerfully.

"D-Daisuke, I wasn't expecting you to say something like that," said Miyako – she and Yamato seemed taken aback by Daisuke saying some kind of thoughtful life-reflecting statement.

"Eh? Well, that's just what I've been thinking, so…"

"Hey, hey, we're not knocking you," said Yamato, eating some of the condiments Daisuke had carefully put in the soup. "Keep that line of thought and you'll go somewhere far."

"You think?"

Daisuke quickly dug back into his ramen, and Miyako couldn't help but marvel on how simple-minded he was. But Yamato was right – it was hard not to see Daisuke somehow pulling it off with that attitude of his.


	4. July 2004 - The Egg Problem

_Hey! Inoue Miyako here!_

_Did you know I've started to get into lavender-scented things? They're especially good in the bath. Just a little bit, not too much to the point where it gets overwhelming, but a little amount of scent – ah, it's heavenly!_

_I recommend you try it too. And if you like it, you should tell everyone else about it!_

_Tell me when you have, okay, okay?_

* * *

Miyako cheerily hummed as she turned on the bath water. It seemed like there was little capable of lowering her spirits at this point, as her disposition seemed to be at maximum that day.

What did catch her off guard, however, was a sudden pounding on the door. Rather irritated, Miyako yelled "I'm busy!" at it.

The pounding continued, sounding rather frantic.

Sighing in exasperation, Miyako quickly put on the rest of her clothes on and yanked open the door with the demeanor of a cat who'd had its food suddenly and violently pulled from it.

"Really, what do you need so badly?"

Behind the door happened to be Miyako's older brother, Mantarou, and under normal circumstances Miyako would have snapped at him for interrupting her, that he didn't have to pound so hard, that it had better be something good, blah blah blah – at the very least, she would have sighed deeply and given him "what is it _now_?"

This was not a normal circumstance.

Mantarou, looking half-bemused and half-panicked, was holding a large egg in his hands.

* * *

"So it finally happened…"

Miyako and Mantarou stared at the egg that they'd placed in the middle of the table, as if their piercing stares would somehow cause it to spontaneously hatch. The egg, naturally, did nothing.

"But man, this isn't even fair. Why didn't I get it pre-hatched like the other people in this family did?"

"At least you didn't end up getting chased by some wild Digimon like Chi-neechan and Momo-neechan did. That was a nightmare…" Miyako looked sideways at Hawkmon, who also seemed to be inspecting the egg. "Know anything about the egg, Hawkmon?"

"Unfortunately, no. There doesn't seem to be anything about it that I can recognize."

"That's a shame…" Mantarou laid his head on the table lazily. "But you know…there's you, and Chizuru, and Momoe…and now me. I don't really know what I'm supposed to do after this…"

"All we can do is wait and see what it hatches into," said Hawkmon.

"Miyako," said Mantarou, "you're the one who's the veteran here, right?"

"I guess I wouldn't really call myself a veteran. I'm still learning, you know." Miyako casually poked the egg, even though it still did nothing.

"But you know more than the rest of us do. Because this whole idea of a Digimon…something's not going to come out of that egg, and I don't really know what I'm going to do once it does. Like…how do you take care of Digimon and all that…"

Miyako pouted and sighed. She wished Hikari were around with her informational video, but there wasn't much she could do.

"Well, I don't think 'taking care' of your Digimon would really be the best way to describe it, you know? I mean, I think Hawkmon here is pretty good at handling himself. Except when it comes to food, that is. He's a living black hole of expensive Japanese food."

"Miyako-san…"

"But anyway, I don't think taking care of a Digimon partner should be a problem. I think what matters more should be your relationship with it."

"Hmm…" Mantarou sighed and looked at Hawkmon. "So then, Hawkmon…what do you think would be your relationship with Miyako?"

Hawkmon thought about it for a minute. Miyako was aware he could say anything he liked, and she trusted him to tell the truth.

"Sometimes there are times when I'm worried if Miyako-san really knows what she's doing, and I advise her to do something different. And sometimes she listens to me, and sometimes she doesn't. But I know I understand Miyako-san's feelings with everything she does, so I can tell she does everything with good intentions. That's what I love most about her, so…in the end, I think I can say I understand her very deeply."

"You talk so well, Hawkmon…" said Miyako. "So, I guess…well, I guess you can say he takes care of me more than I take care of him. He does keep me in check all the time, so I'm grateful for that."

"So that's how it is, then…"

"You can ask Chi-neesan and Momo-neesan about it later, I'm sure they have other things to say," said Miyako.

Mantarou looked back at the egg. It still did nothing – it was hard to believe that this indeed contained a Digimon and wasn't some kind of elaborate prop with how still it is. Still, an egg was an egg – there wasn't much one could expect an egg to do, for now.

"So I just wait for it to hatch and…hope for the best? I'm not sure if I'm not ready for this kind of commitment…"

"It's not something you should worry too much about. At least not until you end up having to save the world or something…"

"Eh, it can't be that hard. I mean, you pulled it off, so it can't be that bad for me."

"…hey!"

"I'm joking, I'm joking. It's not fair if my little sister gets to be the one experienced in all this and I don't get to tease her." He picked up the egg and headed towards his room. "I wonder if this egg will hatch faster if I sit on it…"

"Nii- _san_!"

Mantarou pulled a teasing gesture and went back into his room. Miyako sighed.

"I hope he doesn't end up having to save the world after all…"

"He probably will get called to do at least something," said Hawkmon.

"Yeah. Well, I guess that's all up to him." Miyako sighed. "I really need a nice, warm bath…"


	5. May 2005 – Utterly Confused

_It's me, Inoue Miyako, again!_

_You know, being a Chosen Child is pretty hard work! I guess I should consider myself pretty lucky that I was able to ease into it, huh?_

_Well, I guess I'm getting ahead of myself. But really, with so many Chosen Children out there, it's hard to say whether everyone's going to be easily prepared for a job like this._

_To all the budding Chosen Children out there, good luck!_

* * *

Daisuke had started to get rather irritated about the fact they were still going to the Digital World through the Odaiba Elementary computer room, even though Miyako had explained to him multiple times that it would still be easier for them to go through this way, especially when Iori still attended this school, et cetera, et cetera.

"Iori's only going to be here for one more year, and then we'll have no reason to be here at all…" griped Daisuke.

"Well, whatever. Digital Gate, open! Chosen Children, let's roll!"

* * *

There wasn't more to this trip to the Digital World than the fact they were carrying out what was actually a "routine trip" – after all, the Digimon were more native to the Digital World, and the Chosen Children themselves felt more and more that it made up another version of "home" with every passing day.

"Hey, is Ken coming?" said Daisuke.

"I sent him an email," said Hikari, "saying he can come if he's interested, but he hasn't responded yet."

"He's probably studying again," said Miyako.

"I told him not to be so stressed about things…" said Daisuke. "Oh, well. As long as he's not overdoing it. I've gotten the feeling lately he actually likes studying, just a little…"

The plan for the day involved doing some ruins exploring – in all honesty, the past year had just been unbridled exploring for the group. They were only able to do a little at a time, since for the Chosen Children currently in middle school, juggling schoolwork was difficult – but they still did it, and with every day that passed the Digital World seemed tantalizingly bigger. Occasionally one of the Chosen Children in high school (and, at one point, even Jou from his university) would drop by, tagging along for the ride.

But for the day, it was just the small group of five people, out for an idle daily adventure.

* * *

"Ah, I'm tired. Let's call it a day…"

Daisuke yawned and stretched his arms a little. "But you know, it was hard getting around that place. It's almost like the place kept changing every time we made a turn…"

"Knowing what we've been through before, it probably wouldn't have been surprising if it had made perfect sense," said Takeru.

"True, but…"

They were interrupted by the sudden sound of distant screaming, from what sounded like the voice of a young girl. The group looked in the direction of the scream, and only a silent nod between all of them was necessary to confirm what they wanted to do before they all started heading towards it.

Along the way, they ran into none other than Ken, who was writing an email on his D-Terminal. The expression he gave them upon their arrival immediately informed them that he had been writing to them, probably asking to meet up.

"…ah!"

"Hey, Ken!" said Daisuke, who seemed to be positively beaming at having run into Ken after all. "Finally decided to come out and see the sunshine, eh? How have the books been?"

"Ken-chan likes taking breaks once in a while, you know!" said Wormmon.

Ken laughed, looking positively radiant (or, at least, in Miyako's opinion). "Well, it's good to study well, but it's not good to overdo it, and Wormmon suggested coming…"

"Good thing you ran into us, then!" said Miyako.

"Hey, Ken," said Daisuke. "We heard some people over there. Know anything about it?"

"No, I just got here…"

"Then let's go check it out!"

Daisuke pushed Ken along as he ran towards the scene, causing Ken to momentarily become startled before he smiled and went with it. Hikari couldn't help but giggle, as did Miyako.

* * *

The group soon came upon what looked like some kids getting chased by what looked like a horde of angry Monochromon. The kids themselves didn't look much older than elementary school-age, and they seemed to be more than a little panicked as they and what looked like their Digimon partners fled.

"…This reminds me of something," said Miyako.

"Shut up," replied a rather disgruntled Daisuke.

"…They seem to be in a rather desperate situation," said Iori. "Should we go in and help?"

"I don't think intervening would require more than our Digimon's Adult forms," said Ken. "Daisuke?"

Daisuke thought about it for a few seconds.

"…Let's just see what'll happen."

This elicited a mass reaction of "eh?" from the rest of the group (except Ken, who seemed to have already accepted the fact that Daisuke probably had some kind of strange reason).

"Daisuke-kun," said Takeru, "we can't just leave them like this…"

"I know, I know." Daisuke smiled mischievously. "If things look really bad, we'll take care of it. But for now, let's just see what's going on."

Thus, Daisuke led the group in sneaking behind the bushes to follow the fleeing kids, who seemed to be far too distracted by the incoming Monochromon to even notice them. Periodically Ken would turn to Daisuke and ask if it was okay to keep observing, but Daisuke continued to insist on staying back.

At one point, however, one of the kids' Digimon, a rather frail-looking Kamemon, tripped over from what looked like presumably exhaustion, and Daisuke's instinct of common sense finally overtook his desire to watch the spectacle.

"Digimental Up!"

Daisuke charged in speeding on Lighdramon to fetch the Kamemon and get him back to his partner. Understanding this as the cue to go on, Ken led the others in evolving their Digimon to Adult and charging in.

* * *

"Take care of the kids for us! We'll be right back!"

It was a rather unrealistic idea that the Monochromon would simply back down once the Adult-level Digimon got involved. Still, it wasn't something too difficult for them to handle, so Daisuke and Ken had decided to herd the angry Monochromon stampede shepherd-style and get them away.

"Take care of yourselves, too!" yelled Takeru as Daisuke, Lighdramon, Ken, Stingmon led the Monochromon off.

"T-thank you…"

The boy who had been partnered with the Kamemon was panting and seemed to be quite flustered.

"Hey, hey. Are you doing all right?" said Miyako. "Not hurt or anything like that?"

"N-no."

"That's good, that's good. Are you in elementary school?"

The boy nodded. "Sixth grade."

"Hm, really? Not _that_ young, then." She looked over the group he had behind him, all of them looking exhausted. "So, what happened to get you all in trouble with those Monochromon?"

The boy (whom Miyako concluded was probably the designated leader, possibly because he was the oldest in the group since he otherwise seemed to be rather demure) lowered his head, and it was hard to make out his words. "We accidentally ran into their territory and…"

"But when you found yourself in trouble, why didn't you have your Digimon evolve?" asked Takeru.

At this point the boy suddenly went completely silent. Hikari suddenly out a small gasp of understanding. Miyako looked at her and back at the boy, and smiled at him.

"Well, you'll get the hang of it eventually, so don't worry too much about it. Are you new Chosen Children? Then you shouldn't rush into it too quickly. After all, it's been a few months since the last major incident, so it's not like you're in a big hurry or anything." She squatted down a little and smiled sweetly at them. "Besides, Digimon evolve best when you're in danger, so…the fact none of you have been in any serious danger means good things, right?"

"I wouldn't put it that way, Miyako-san…" said Hikari, stifling another giggle.

"Hey, I'm just telling it how it is!"

At that moment Daisuke and Ken returned, looking a little tired from their ordeal but looking rather satisfied with themselves.

"It should be okay now," said Ken, being carried by Stingmon. "Everyone doing okay?"

Miyako only responded with a "Ken-kun's so cool!"

"Hey, what about me?" yelled Daisuke indignantly.

* * *

The two groups parted ways. Miyako had left her email address with them, telling them that if she happened to be available and they needed help, they should feel free to drop her a line.

"But you know, you're turning into some kind of Digimon upperclassman," said Daisuke. "The image of you as an experienced Digimon senior is kind of strange…"

"Hm? And what makes you say that, huh?"

"If this keeps up, maybe Miyako-san can be some kind of an older sister figure," said Takeru.

"Hey – wait – aren't we going a little too quickly with this?"

Miyako sighed in exasperation as everyone else started laughing.


	6. October 2005 – Convenience Woes

_It’s me, Inoue Miyako!_

_You know, if you happen to be in Odaiba, you should stop by my family’s i-Mart! We have all sorts of wonderful things suited for your needs!_

_Okay, okay, I admit, I’m shamelessly advertising here. But you should definitely come by. Searea Odaiba Ichibangai, the store of love and purity – i-Mart!_

* * *

Miyako looked over the shelves of the Odaiba i-Mart, sighing as she placed the merchandise on the shelves. The problem with working with food was that one was always tempted to eat on the job, even though it wasn’t allowed.

She let out another sigh as she put the last box on.

“Miyako-san, you seem to be quite in the mood for sighing today,” said Hawkmon.

“Eh? Is that so? Well, I guess it can’t be helped…”

As Miyako made her way back to the cashier, her mother called her over. “Can you watch the store for the day? I have an errand to run.”

“Oh, okay!”

Miyako assumed control of the cash register and, once her mother was out, let out yet another sigh.

* * *

Despite the tedium of the work, Miyako still had a remarkable ability to put together a pleasant smile for the customers (or, in the case of particularly nice customers, a genuine, beaming smile). The work was tedious, but she didn’t find it particularly unpleasant, especially after having helped in the store for years.

She was scanning in some soft drinks for a customer when he suddenly pointed at Hawkmon and said, “Is it sanitary to have that bird with you there?”

Miyako continued smiling at the customer, but Hawkmon could sense the irritation starting to build up. Hawkmon himself said nothing, curious how Miyako would respond.

“He’s not just a bird, he’s a Digimon,” said Miyako.

“But he’s still a bird, isn’t he? I don’t really get this whole ‘Digimon’ thing anyway…so to me, he’s still a bird.”

“Miyako-san…” said Hawkmon, worried about her reaction.

Miyako gritted her teeth, continued smiling, and handed the customer his merchandise. “Well, he’s a Digimon, he’s my friend, and he’s more than capable of helping me out with the store. That’ll be 750 yen.”

Once the customer had left, Miyako sighed all of that pent-up energy out.

* * *

Since the i-Mart was a convenience store, business was never particularly hustle-and-bustle, but working in retail meant dealing with a lot of different kinds of people. There were people who came in just to buy something and pop out, people who made kind comments about Miyako or Hawkmon or both, people who had the occasional question about different products, and people who tried to haggle to get their things free despite the fact most customers didn’t buy much over 15,000 yen (at the most).

There wasn’t much to do, and Miyako wasn’t one to ditch her station, so she generally ended up staring at all the customers buying her things. She eventually got so bored she started playing a guessing game with Hawkmon on what she thought the next customer might buy – out of their earshot, of course.

“Energy drink.”

“Croquette.”

“Water bottle.”

“Ice cream bar.”

At some point, what looked like a pair of housewives walked into the store. One of them suddenly started whispering to the other, but Miyako was very aware of the subject of their conversation, given that the woman had been staring straight at Hawkmon before talking to the other.

“Miyako-san…” said Hawkmon, reading the expression on Miyako’s face.

But Miyako said nothing, other than waiting for the women to reach the counter and bring up their products, scanning them in, and dealing with them in the most neutral manner possible.

* * *

It was late afternoon and the frequency of customers was going down. A short-haired boy came in and placed a drink and some snacks on the counter.

“That’ll be 1200 yen,” said Miyako as she absentmindedly scanned the products.

“Hey,” said the boy, laughing a little. “Miyako-chan.”

“Hm?” Miyako looked up to see what kind of boy was suddenly calling her “Miyako-chan” before being completely thrown off in shock. “T- _Taichi-san_?”

“Hey.” Taichi grinned proudly.

* * *

Chizuru had come down right on cue to relieve Miyako of cashier duty, so Miyako packed up her belongings and brought Hawkmon with her so she could continue her conversation with Taichi outside.

“You cut your hair – ”

“I did. Didn’t tell my family either. They’re in for a surprise when I get home.”

“But you really surprised me! I’m not used to seeing you at all like that…”

“Well, you’re lucky, since you’re the first one. You should have seen your own face!”

“You can’t blame me for being surprised though! This is all so sudden…what made you do it?”

“Hm, well. I’m going to be a third-year in high school next year. I’m going to have to get serious…university applications and all that. It’s a shame, but there’s nothing I can do, really, is there?” He laughed. “I was actually hoping you wouldn’t be on duty today so I could surprise you with Daisuke and the others, but I liked seeing your reaction here, too.”

“That’s what you get for coming to our convenience store, then!” Miyako let out a sigh (again), full of the events of the day. “Still, you’re the best customer I’ve had all day…”

“Hm? What happened?”

“Miyako-san had her share of rather difficult customers today,” said Hawkmon.

“It’s nothing too special. A few rude people who tried to haggle, some people who think they can yell at me about the prices despite the fact I just sell these things, every so often people making rude comments about me or Hawkmon…”

“How much of it was the last one?”

“Just the few odd comments here and there…but it still pissed me off.”

The three of them sighed in unison.

“You’d think with Digimon becoming more and more of a common thing, there’d be people getting used to it more. But I suppose a few years isn’t enough to really convince everyone, is it?” He took a sip from the drink he’d just bought. “Someday I’d like to just walk down the street with Agumon and not get any weird looks at all.”

“You’ve always had to hide him every time, didn’t you, Taichi-san?”

“I put him in a hoodie,” said Taichi, laughing. “But still, it feels a bit upsetting that I have to hide him all the time, when we’re supposed to be heading towards a world where the Digimon are accepted everywhere…”

He finished his drink and tossed his bottle into the nearby trash can.

“You know, it’s been years since I’ve been through a long, long adventure in the Digital World. You and Daisuke and the others too, right?”

“Yeah.”

“To be honest, I wish I still could. I understand it’s a job for the new Chosen Children popping up everywhere now, though. I told Agumon about wanting to do something and he told me ‘but you’re applying to university, isn’t that an adventure in itself?’”

“You sound really cool, Taichi-san, all grown-up and stuff.”

“Is that so? He told me that too.”

Seeing that it was getting late, Taichi stood up and picked up his bag. “I have to get home…still need to go surprise my family. It was good talking to you, Miyako-chan.”

“You too.”

As Taichi started walking off, he stopped and turned around. “But you know…just because we’re done with most of the stuff in the Digital World doesn’t mean we’re done here.”

“Huh?”

“The idiots in the convenience store, right? We need fewer of those.” He slung his bag over his shoulder and gave a satisfied smirk. “It’s an insult to both Agumon and myself, you know. That’s our job to hammer in how wrong they are into their heads, right?”

“I’d totally yell at those customers if I wouldn’t get the store in trouble!”

“Aha, I don’t mean it that way. Well, we’ll figure it out somehow.”

He continued walking off towards his apartment complex, with Miyako and Hawkmon watching.

“Taichi-san is really assertive, isn’t he?” said Hawkmon.

“Yeah. Well, I guess that’s why Daisuke thinks he’s cool.”

Now that her conversation was over, Miyako and Hawkmon headed back into the store to check on Chizuru.

 _I wonder how Hikari-chan’s going to react to that haircut_ , she thought.


	7. May 2006 – A Tale of Two Apartments

May 2006 – A Tale of Two Apartments

* * *

  _Inoue Miyako here!_

_I'm a high-schooler now, and unfortunately, despite what I'd hoped, the uniform's not really much better than the middle school one. At this point, there's not much I can do, though – so the only thing left is to be as cute as possible anyway!_

_But you know, middle school is pretty different from high school! And on top of that, the few classmate friends I had from middle school that go to my new school aren't even in my class anymore, so I've had to make some new friends. There are a lot of idiots in my class, too...well, there are stupid people everywhere, aren't there?_

_In the end, though, I'm a super-mature high school student, though, and that's what matters. Good enough for me!_

* * *

"So much homework..." Miyako groaned and laid her head back on the chair of her desk. "I can already tell this is going to be a bad night."

She gathered her belongings, walked out the classroom door and off campus, and finally opened her bag more than a sliver to let Hawkmon get some proper air.

"Can't we get around those rules somehow, Miyako-san?" said Hawkmon.

"Unfortunately, no. As long as Digimon are still considered on the level of 'pets'...you can't be on campus, but there's no way I'm leaving you at home. Maybe it'd be easier if you were Poromon like you used to be..."

"Unfortunately, I don't think that would work, considering they're very well I'm not a stuffed animal either way."

"That's true."

Once she was fully certain she was a reasonable distance away from the school, she opened her bag all the way, letting Hawkmon fly behind her. It had been four years since the Digimon incidents had gone fully public and yet she was still getting strange looks taking Hawkmon down the street – but she reasoned that it'd be a better way to get people to act normal around them if she acted normal herself.

"I mean honestly," said Miyako, "it seems like each teacher doesn't give you much homework, but then the next teacher gives you more, and then the next one gives you even more...and then suddenly you're completely swamped and there's nothing else you can do. And then midterms come so quickly it's not even funny...this is ridiculous, isn't high school supposed to be when you're living your young life to the fullest and finding true love and discovering your life's aspirations?!"

"Cheer up, Miyako-san," said Hawkmon. "I'm sure you'll find something fun to do while you're here."

"Yeah, you're right. Well, but I have to get through all of this studying first..."

* * *

It was on the way home that Miyako ran into the Odaiba Middle School campus – where Miyako's fellow Chosen Children were. Because they were now attending different schools, they didn't get to see each other much – Miyako suspected it'd probably end up being another year like this, because school proximity did a lot even if they went on Digital World excursions often – but at least she thought it was a good idea to drop in every so often and say hi.

She was on her way to the soccer field to see if Daisuke was at his soccer club when she passed by a bench, where Iori was sitting alone. The fact Armadimon was not there wasn't very surprising, given that Iori wasn't one to risk shirking school rules to bring him along, but

"...hm?"

She quickly ran over to the bench to face Iori, who looked up at her.

"...ah, Miyako-san..." he said, rather halfheartedly.

"Iori? Is something wrong?"

Iori only stared at the ground forlornly. Miyako waited before realizing she wasn't going to get anywhere and sat down on the bench next to him, waiting.

* * *

It was only a few minutes later that Iori finally spoke.

"Miyako-san...today, in class, there..." He shook his head. "Well...a few weeks ago, one of my classmates had some money stolen from his bag...and so we found the kid who did it..."

"Well, that's good, isn't it?" said Hawkmon. "That you caught the thief, I mean."

Iori shook his head again.

"So he was reprimanded, and everything went back to normal. That's what I thought. But then today we were told he was transferring out, because of bullying..."

"Bullying?" said Miyako.

Iori nodded.

"The other people in my class were...apparently doing things, like writing things in his books and on his desk, writing things like 'thief' and 'good-for-nothing'...threatening to steal things from him as well. And I had no idea...no, I knew. I knew at least that something was wrong, that people were at least avoiding him, but I didn't realize..."

"And you feel bad because you didn't do anything?"

"Because I kept my mouth shut during all this!" Iori's voice was now mixed with both anger and distress at this point. "I, I knew something was wrong, and yet...and now...and now, I have to face those classmates that I know did such horrible things..."

Miyako said nothing as Iori took the time to calm himself down from the anger.

"...Miyako-san...is this what middle school is like? Was everyone like this?"

Miyako found herself at a loss for words. She, herself, had gone through life during the prior three years as "there are stupid people and there will always be stupid people". She had been lucky enough that her own classes had gone by without a similar incident quite as major.

"Well, to be honest, I don't think I ran into people in my classes quite like yours. But you know, if I'd have been in the same situation, as soon as I found something was wrong I'd probably start yelling at everyone. And then they'd probably start turning on me, which would be pretty bad...but then I wouldn't be able to do much about that. So I guess I am pretty lucky after all..."

Both of them could only hang their heads. There was no way around the fact what the boy had been through was unfair.

"I wish I had done that," said Iori. "Regardless of the consequences. I wish I had said something. I want to do things like that. Normally I would call people out, but...I didn't know how to think. Because he was someone who supposedly stole the money, right? I couldn't say things like 'it's not his fault', even though now I don't even know if he'd done it anymore. But I also can't deny that by not saying anything all this time, I ended up letting this happen..."

"Iori-san..." said Hawkmon.

"It's not because I thought he was guilty. But I couldn't say anything at all...!"

Miyako didn't know how to respond for a while, with Iori angry at himself and the students in his class. After a long and drawn-out silence, she opened her mouth and slowly began to speak.

"Hey, Iori. You remember, I moved to Odaiba a few years ago, right?"

Iori nodded.

"I had to change schools. So it was pretty hard, getting used to new people, you know. But then I met you and we got to know each other from living in the same apartment and all that. And then another year later Takeru-kun moved in and all sorts of things happened...so I think I'd be okay, no matter what, just knowing I have you guys around." She sighed and put her head in her hands. "And, you know, I don't know what we could have done about that boy now, we can cry and scream about it all we want but there's nothing we can do but hope he finds some good friends at his next school. Did he have a Digimon yet?"

Iori shook his head.

"Then hopefully he'll get one soon. We'll wish the best for him now, and next time we'll see if there's anything we can do. You should talk to me about it too if you see anything wrong. Armadimon, too."

Iori nodded and smiled a little, seeming to gain a small bit of cheer from that. "I wish I could see things as straightforward as you do, Miyako-san..."

"Hm, well, I think I overdo it a bit. I think about stupid things like cute boys and tomorrow's homework."

"Sometimes it's better not to think too hard, though, Miyako-san," said Hawkmon.

"True, true," said Miyako. "Want to walk home together, Iori?"

"Yeah. Thank you."

He got up and the three of them departed the Odaiba Middle School campus, picking up conversations about small talk again. It was getting late; the only thing left to do was return home.


	8. November 2006 – Interview and Interview

_Hey, everyone! Inoue Miyako here!_

_It's getting a lot harder to avoid the media lately when they've pinned our family as "the ideal typical Digimon family". Apparently picking up the fact that my siblings and I all have Digimon, they keep thinking we'd be a great example to use for interviews._

_They still don't know I happen to be involved with the events four years ago, though. We're still exploiting all our media connections on that one, but...well, for now, we'd like to still keep that under wraps._

_Even so, the media's being super, super obnoxious right now! It's frustrating and they don't have the right to pester my family like this! Well, well, I guess there's not much we can do, but it's still annoying..._

* * *

The Digimon at the school took quite easily to Mimi. Mimi responded with fervor, of course, greeting them as enthusiastically as they greeted her. Miyako, naturally, could do nothing but beam in pride at her beloved "oneesama" and how popular she was.

Miyako, herself, technically did not have to be there. Mimi had taken it upon herself to visit young Digimon every so often; Miyako just happened to be tagging along. But due to the poor coordination of time zones between New York and Tokyo, Miyako had very few chances to see Mimi, especially now that she was in high school. This was a rare opportunity, so Miyako had every intention of taking advantage of it.

"You should try your own hand at it, Miyako-chan," said Mimi, after tending to her own small group.

"No, it's okay. You're much better at it than I am. I'd probably screw it up somewhere along the line."

Mimi gave Miyako her best  _I-think-you're-being-overly-modest-and-you-should-really-try_  look, but continued at her own pace. Miyako, at least, seemed to be observing with fervor.

* * *

Three hours had passed since their arrival at the school. Palmon had arrived in a timely fashion, helping Mimi out with her work. Miyako and Hawkmon effectively made themselves "assistants" to Mimi and Palmon – not necessarily helping directly, but providing any support Mimi needed – if there was ever a need to fetch something, or provide extra hands, Miyako and Hawkmon were on it straightaway.

A Clockmon, accompanied by a bunch of Gizamon behind him, entered the school around that time. Mimi, Palmon, Miyako, and Hawkmon immediately went to greet them, curious as to what business they wanted in a small school like this.

Upon seeing Mimi and Miyako, the Clockmon and his companions suddenly stopped straight in their tracks, and the Clockmon started to hover off-balance in shock. "H-humans!"

"Hm?" said Miyako. "Got a problem with us?"

The Clockmon gained his composure and pointed dramatically in the direction of Hawkmon and Palmon. "You're the Digimon partnered to those humans, are you not?"

"We are," said Palmon.

"Is there anything you need from us?" said Hawkmon.

Still carrying a rather defiant and somewhat dramatic air, the Clockmon yelled, "Ha! What luck I have, encountering you here! My colleagues and I have been seeking an interview with the Digimon of the Chosen Children – we, as Digimon, are just  _dying_ to understand their perspective!"

"Wait a minute - " started Miyako.

"I'm not talking to  _you_! My focus here is on the Digimon themselves."

The Gizamon started approaching Miyako and Mimi, causing them to cautiously step backwards. This persisted until they were sufficiently away from the scene, with Clockmon's attention on Palmon and Hawkmon. Palmon and Hawkmon looked around nervously, but proceeded with the interview as he started to fire question after question at them.

* * *

"I wonder what he's asking them..."

"Dunno..."

With Palmon and Hawkmon occupied by Clockmon, Miyako was now full-on helping Mimi with her work ("See? I told you you'd do fine!"), both of them every so often wondering what was going on back there.

But Miyako could easily tell Hawkmon was not confidently giving his answers, given that every so often he would look back at her nervously before turning back to Clockmon to give his answer. With each time he did this, Hawkmon looked more and more flustered, and Miyako had a feeling that Clockmon was stacking the pressure on him with awkward or difficult-to-answer questions.

"I don't like that guy," said Miyako, after a while.

"Why?"

"He just barged in with no warning, then he immediately kicks us aside and starts pushing our Digimon around. Hmph! I'd like to give him a piece of my mind."

She got up and started storming towards Clockmon so she could do exactly that.

"Hey! You!"

The Gizamon started rushing towards Miyako, but she ignored them and stepped around them as she approached Clockmon. "You're not harrassing them, are you?"

Clockmon looked rather offended at this development. "I'm on a scholarly endeavor to find out – "

"Oh, quit being so full of yourself! Why are you even excluding me and Mimi-oneesama from the picture?"

"I only want the pure opinions of the Digimon without bias, which you could be influencing through bias," said Clockmon, still maintaining his snobbish air.

"Then isn't it biased to be aiming questions at Digimon only when it comes to an interview about Digimon and humans? If you're going to ask Hawkmon about that, you're going to ask me about it too! Same with Palmon and Mimi-oneesama!" She put her hands on her hips and leaned closer towards the Clockmon. "If you're going to be half-assed about this, you're not really much of an interviewer, are you?"

Clockmon's better-than-you air was starting to crack under Miyako's confrontation. Mimi, seeing the commotion, approached the group falling under tension.

"Hm, let's not get into a fight. I think we can settle this nicely, don't you agree?" She smiled sweetly at all of them. "Well, Miyako-chan does have a point, and I think you should listen to her...but if you want to have an interview, we'd be happy to let you have it. What do you think?"

Still reeling from Miyako's confrontation, Clockmon finally regained his composure. "Fine!"

* * *

"Honestly..."

With the day over, the four of them began packing up to return home.

"I think that went a lot easier with Mimi around," said Palmon.

"That wasn't so bad, was it? Miyako-chan? Hawkmon?" asked Mimi, smiling at both of them. "You know, I hope they got a good impression of us. I think it's important the Digimon understand the importance of Digimon and human partnership on this side, too."

"Yeah..."

Miyako sighed, causing Hawkmon to look at her curiously.

"...But I still really, really hate reporters."


	9. February 2007 – Uncertain In-Between

_Hey, everyone! It's me again, Inoue Miyako!_

_It's almost the end of the school year! Not long before Daisuke and Takeru and Hikari become first-years, you know. They'd better join the computer club, or else I'll be really mad!_

_Speaking of the computer club, Izumi-senpai told me he's thinking of trying for a national university like Jou-san! Not only that, he said he thinks I should try for captain once he's graduated. "I think you're skilled enough to lead it, Miyako-kun"...Izumi-senpai, I'm honored, but do you really think I can handle that kind of pressure?!_

_Well, I have more than a year to think about it, I guess._

* * *

It was the middle of class, and Miyako sighed and stared at the clock. She was seated near the back of the class, so chances are the teacher wouldn't catch her sneaking her quick glance to the side, but she had to stay on guard since her seat was in the center and was thus technically right within the teacher's range of view.

In only two more months, she would be the last of her family to be in high school. Once Chizuru was in university, the entire family would be focusing its attention on Miyako to see how well she did. It wasn't as if she suddenly felt crushed under overwhelming pressure, but it also wasn't a very pleasant feeling.

"Inoue!"

Miyako sighed as she moved her field of vision back from the clock to the lecture. She was pretty sure she was about to be asked a question she probably didn't know the answer to.

* * *

Computer club went slowly as well. Koushirou was so hard at work and so absorbed in his current project that he only looked up to answer questions anyone else had. Miyako was typing at her computer lazily – she was actually done with her current project, but simply didn't feel in the mood to disturb Koushirou and have him look it over (even though he'd said she should feel free to do so).

She was in low spirits as she finally packed up her stuff, while Hawkmon – who'd been keeping idle conversation with her over the hours – looked over her worriedly. It was only two minutes after she'd gotten Hawkmon into her bag and left the room that she realized she'd forgotten her pencil case.

The first words she heard as she stood behind the door to open it was "...but for a girl to do it, that's a first."

She opened the door, a bit irritated, and looked over the two boys having the conversation as she retrieved her pencil case. The boys looked back at her, and although they said nothing, it was plain as day they'd been talking about her – specifically, the very popular topic among the club about the "unusual" idea Miyako might be captain of the club someday.

Miyako had half a mind to call them out, but doing so meant conceding that she'd listened in on their conversation, which would potentially lead to more trouble from them than it was worth. Instead, she only let out a small "hmph" and left the room.

* * *

It was late at night by the time Miyako got home; now out of school's suffocating atmosphere, she was able to speak more freely at home and complain to her parents and siblings about schoolwork, the other members of the computer club, etc.

By the time she was ready to turn into bed, Miyako had released most of her pent-up energy, and was in a much better mood.

"Mmf, I wish it were April already," she said as she changed into her pajamas.

"Because of Daisuke and the others?"

"Yeah. They'd join the computer club. And I hate to admit it, but I think I get along better with them than most of the people in my class. Even if people think I'm weird for hanging out with people one grade below me, it's better company."

She sighed and tossed herself on her blankets.

It wasn't as if she'd lost her energy – the burning feeling of wanting to vent at night was sheer proof of that – but ever since she'd started high school, she simply seemed to find it harder to be excited about certain things. Mantarou had warned her some years back that being a teenager came with this.  _Even if you're aware of them, you can't really stop teenager hormones_ , he'd said.

Miyako was not the type of person who liked to blame this kind of thing on biological phenomena, and "moody" was not a word she wanted to use on herself. But she definitely agreed that being a teenager wasn't exactly pleasant.

"...Hey, Hawkmon."

"Yes, Miyako-san?"

"We met something like five years ago, right?"

"I would say so, yes."

"I was a sixth-grader...now I'm in high school." She sat up, hugging her pillow. "Do you think...do you like me better now? Or as I was then?"

"...I don't know if I understand what you mean..."

"I mean, I mean...well, I was a lot younger when we met, and I'm not going to be that age again. And then some more years and I'll be an adult, and maybe my personality will be different. Every year I'm going to get a little different, and it's going to be different for you..."

Hawkmon took a little time to consider what Miyako had just said. Once he finally spoke, it was clear he was choosing his words carefully to accurately express how he felt about it.

"Hm...well, it's true humans change in personality significantly and very quickly, compared to us Digimon. But it doesn't change whether I 'dislike' or 'like' you..."

"Even if I end up completely different?"

"I don't think it'd be possible for you to completely change. Since there are still things about you that are always going to stay the same – it's what makes you like yourself." He paused for a little to get a grip on a better way to describe it. "It's in the same way you still think of me like myself, even after evolving, I would say."

Miyako nodded, though she was still frowning a bit. "But it's still somewhat different..."

"From my point of view – as a Digimon – it doesn't feel very different to me. The process and the result are different, but it still means you'll always be you, Miyako-san."

"...I suppose you're right."

Thinking on it for a bit, Miyako laughed lightly and turned out the lights. "...Thank you, Hawkmon."

"You're welcome."

Miyako tucked herself in and sighed, feeling a little better. Knowing that Hawkmon would be around was, regardless of all else, extremely comforting.


	10. December 2007 – Type

_Inoue Miyako here! I hope you're all enjoying the winter!_

_You know, it's been getting colder and colder, which means it's cute coat season! Winter clothes are amazing, aren't they? Everyone around starts wearing cute winter clothes and I love it!_

_Plus, it snows everywhere in winter and snow makes the atmosphere so nice. Winter is just really pretty in general, isn't it? I mean, it's kind of a pain sometimes to deal with the cold and all that, and taking off all your layers of clothes when you get home is also a bit of a drag, but I think it's well worth it._

_Well, to all you out there, keep warm!_

* * *

Everyone had learned very quickly within five minutes that it was a very, very bad idea to give Miyako a megaphone.

The group was currently helping out Hikari with a Christmas Eve volunteer project (which had been more like Hikari offhandedly mentioning she was helping out a volunteer group and Miyako dragging everyone else in to help her). As it turned out, the volunteers were actually overstaffed, but Miyako had wanted to be helpful – so she'd picked up a megaphone and started yelling motivation at everyone.

The result was Miyako screeching at the top of her lungs, the sound amplified fivefold by the megaphone, accusing people here and there of slacking off or yelling that what everyone needed was "spirit, spirit!" But despite the large ruckus it was causing, nobody bothered to take the megaphone from Miyako; there was some kind of charm to having it around.

"You're very enthusiastic today, Miyako-san," said Ken, passing by and holding a bunch of boxes.

Pulling her mouth away from the megaphone (since she at least had the sense to know that at that distance, yelling through it would probably cause him at least temporary deafness), Miyako smirked at him. "I have to keep everyone motivated, you know!"

"Well, keep at it."

"But could you lay off on the megaphone a bit?" said Daisuke, coming up from behind Ken and carrying about twice the number of boxes. "I think my ears are going to blow off..."

Miyako immediately held the microphone up to her mouth and took a deep breath.

The anticipation-horror caused Daisuke to promptly trip over, dropping the boxes everywhere. Clearly amused at the situation, Ken found himself unable to keep in a laugh, while Miyako – who had turned the megaphone off – yelled "get back to work!" at him. Daisuke, embarrassed, muttered a long, incoherent string of sounds.

Right there, Hikari – who was also giggling after seeing what had just happened – informed Miyako that they now actually had assignments, putting Miyako's temporary megaphone stint to an end.

* * *

Miyako and Hikari started working with two university-age girls, setting up some Christmas Eve and Christmas Day decorations. The girls were very chatty, engaging Miyako and Hikari in conversation about how they were enjoying high school, or what it was like having Digimon (Tailmon and Hawkmon were helping the other Digimon out elsewhere, so Miyako was free to say whatever she liked at her discretion).

A few hours into it, the question came up.

"So, what's your type?"

Hikari's facial expression was mildly perplexed, like a sort of "?", but Miyako immediately reacted violently. "Eh? Type? You mean, like – "

"You know what I mean! Romantic type. What's your dating criteria?"

Hikari only took a few seconds to immediately respond, "I haven't really thought about anything like that."

"Ha. Took the safe answer, I see." The girl asking the question immediately focused her attention to Miyako. "So, so? What about you, Miyako-chan?"

"M-me? Well, I mean, I like cute boys."

"Not specific enough!" said the other girl. "What's 'cute' to you?"

"W-well, when you put it like that...!" She shot a glance at Hikari, as if to plead  _help me out here_ , and stammered, "Um...I don't think I'm really picky about that kind of thing, I mean cute is cute..."

"Attitude, then? Attitude?

To suddenly be asked such questions directly was rather suffocating for Miyako. "I suppose...I mean, cool, with a straightforward personality, who acts cool and stuff..."

"Eh, that's lame..."

"Oh! You came here with a few boys, right? What do you think of them? Those two over there - " (she pointed to Daisuke and Ken) " - and those two?" (to Takeru and Iori).

Miyako immediately froze up.

"Well, I mean, they're my friends, if you're asking me to – "

"I mean, just objectively," said the first girl, "you've probably already evaluated their looks and stuff, so, I mean, how would you rate them, on a scale of 1 to 10 or something? Don't worry, we won't tell."

The feelings of anxiety and distress in Miyako were just about to reach boiling point, and had she been given a few more seconds, she would have started on a large tirade. Fortunately, Hikari had caught all the signs of the situation spiraling out of control and intervened. "Well, I think that's asking a bit much of Miyako-san..."

"Hmph." The second girl sighed exasperatedly, but didn't push the subject further. Miyako breathed out a sigh of relief.

* * *

After everything had been put away, everyone split for home, with Miyako and Hikari cleaning up the last dregs of some stuff in one of the rooms. Miyako started gathering everything, a bit morose.

Hikari looked at her questioningly.

"Miyako-san..."

" - ah?"

"Is something wrong? You seem a little down..."

"Mm, nothing much..."

Hikari was not convinced – over the years, she'd gained an ability to sense even subtle changes in Miyako's mood. "Was it what they said earlier, about romantic types?"

"...Yeah, I guess it was, a bit."

"You don't have to worry about it too much if you don't want to."

"Yeah, I know." Miyako sighed. "But you know, it's weird. I'm not afraid to say I like cute boys and other things, but as soon as it came to an issue regarding our friends, I completely froze up..."

"But I don't blame you. They're all important friends to us. So..." Hikari looked for the words, her eyes shifting somewhat awkwardly away from Miyako for a second. "...breaching that territory between when you like someone and when they're your friend, it's difficult."

"Yeah. So being asked something like that...it was really difficult." Miyako sighed. "I mean, it's not like I'd be adverse to dating anyone within our friend circle..."

"...ah?"

Miyako looked directly at Hikari to see that she was staring back at her with a curious expression, before suddenly giggling a bit.

"...I see. I thought you'd be the type to have your feelings all sorted out, Miyako-san...but I suppose it's impossible to expect someone to know exactly how they feel all the time."

"Yeah, you know? Do you ever feel that weird kind of barrier, Hikari-chan?"

"Hm...I mean, like I said, I haven't really thought about it."

"Mm, it's better to do things at your own pace. But for me..." Miyako sighed. "It's true that I think it'd be nice to have a boyfriend. And it's true that there are a lot of boys I think are cute, and it's also true that nothing will happen unless I do something...ghh! Why does this have to be so complicated?!" She let out a deep sigh from her chest. "But you're right...I can't immediately have my feelings sorted out now...I need to think about who I really like and what I want to do about it."

"So you think you like someone?"

"Maybe, maybe not. But I really like being around our friends and...yeah, I suppose you could say there's someone who I like, someone who I would really enjoy dating, but I'd be worried about ruining our friendship..."

"I understand what you mean..." Hikari pursed her lips, choosing her words carefully in the way she always did when discussing such serious subjects like this with Miyako. "But...I think once you have your feelings sorted out, you should act on them. Since then you won't have any regrets."

"Yeah, you're right. It's a little scary, but if I don't do anything, nothing will happen..." Miyako took a deep breath. "All right! Valentine's Day is in February, right? I'm going to think about my feelings and I'm going to take action on them!"

Hikari didn't say anything in response, but smiled sweetly at Miyako.

"Ah, that felt good! Okay, it's getting late. We need to go. Let's go get Hawkmon and Tailmon."

"All right, then."

Miyako started to walk off, with Hikari following her.

"...Miyako-san."

"Hm?"

"...Good luck."

Miyako turned full-on to face Hikari, who was standing there, with the earnestness she'd charged her last wish with still visible in her face.

"Thank you, Hikari-chan."


	11. March 2008 – Awaited Response

_Hello. This is Ichijouji Ken._

_...Um..._

_I'm not...entirely used to doing things like this. I'm sorry. Um, it's a bit strange for me to explain the situation that's going on right now...well, it's a bit embarrassing, so you'll have to forgive me for not spilling all of the details._

_I suppose I didn't really say anything very important here. Please understand – I'm not exactly sure what to say._

_But I think, at least, I can say that today's a pretty important day for me._

* * *

"Oi! Ken! There's trouble!"

Ken listened intently to Daisuke's frantic voice on the other side of the line. "You know how I told you she'd be going to computer club today? Well, apparently she's not! She just went straight out the door! I have no clue where she's going and by the time I realized she wasn't coming I lost track of where she was going! She's not answering any of my text messages, either! Man, why does she always have to be unpredictable like this..."

"E-eh?! Then where  _is_  she going?"

"I have no clue, I'd have told you already if I knew!"

"Does Iori-kun know?"

"I'm heading to his school right now to see if he does! This is bad, this is bad...you've got to do something too!"

"I could send her a message..but, Daisuke, I don't know if that would be a good idea in this situation – "

"This is  _not_ the time to be worrying about small things like that! Do you not see this situation going from bad to worse? Find a way to be subtle or something! I'm almost at the school, call me back if you figure something out!"

The sound of the call ending reached Ken's ears.

"What'd he say, Ken-chan?" said Wormmon.

Ken sighed deeply. This was going to be a long day.

It had been a month since Miyako had proclaimed her confession very loudly to him in front of his apartment building. An outright declaration of feelings, and a chocolate box – it'd been rather prototypical. He'd responded in a rather vague, conciliatory way that still managed to not put her off, and yet by the time Ken had gotten to his apartment building, he'd had absolutely no clue how to deal with this situation.

After trying to soak it all in, the first thing he'd done was call Daisuke, because he was the only one Ken could trust with this kind of information. He had no idea whom else Miyako had told about this, and he certainly didn't want to embarrass her by telling people if she didn't want him to – but as long as Daisuke knew it was an important issue to him, he could trust him with it, and besides Daisuke was the first person Ken would ever want to trust with this kind of issue.

Daisuke's reaction had been one that flipped back and forth between shock ("What?  _Miyako?_ ") and considering it a fact of life ("well, I mean, she says she likes cute boys, and she's always calling you cute, so it was bound to happen") before finally settling on "so, then, you got a girl confessing to you."

"...yeah."

"This isn't the first time you've had girls all over you, but man, it's really different when it involves someone you know, isn't it?...hmm. But more importantly, Ken."

"Hm?"

"The important question is, what are you going to do about it?"

"...a-ah..."

"Hey, now's not the time to be hesitant. This is a big thing. For starters, what do  _you_  think about Miyako?"

* * *

The text message from Daisuke had come rather speedily – Iori didn't know anything, and when Iori had called Miyako's family he'd found that she didn't have any errands at the store or anything like that. The only thing Daisuke had been able to get out of it was that chances were she was probably doing something off on her own and that she'd probably be home at night. Ken kept the thought in the back of his head, but he preferred not to let it get to that.

The truth was that he'd been worried this would happen. For the past month between Valentine's Day and this day, Miyako had been avoiding him. At first, it had been hard to tell since they went to different schools and they'd only had a handful of opportunities to interact, but Ken had started to develop a feeling that her missing events where they would normally participate in was awfully convenient. Ken had managed to see her once in the past month, due to a combination of his own personal obligations and hers, and they'd barely interacted. Of course, it was entirely possible that it simply had been happenstance and bad luck, but for it to happen this day of all days...

But he knew she probably wasn't even doing it consciously. The thing about Miyako was that she was incredibly transparent. Had she been actively trying to dodge him, it would have been obvious no matter how much she tried to hide it. Instead, it seemed Miyako was only acting on fear – after forcing her feelings out on Valentine's Day, she was afraid to know the answer.

It was a reaction that was so, so very much like her.

* * *

"What are you going to do, Ken-chan?"

"I don't know..."

At any time it was going to become late in the afternoon, and the only productive thing Ken had done was board the train and Yurikamome to Odaiba because he was sure she was probably in the area.

"We have no leads on everything and we're just running in circles..."

"Maybe you're trying a little too hard, Ken-chan," said Wormmon. "Do you want to try sending her a message?"

Ken looked at his phone. He'd hoped that abstaining from sending a message to Miyako would help mitigate the problem, but as it seemed it wasn't as if he could get any further behind.

Wormmon pushed the phone closer into his hands. "Ken- _chan_." Ken laughed a little – Wormmon had been surprisingly conciliatory towards this entire issue over the past month. Perhaps it was because he could sense Ken was handling this situation very seriously, or because none of this had actually caused him to drop all his attention from Wormmon.

He picked up the phone. "All right." Slowly and carefully, he typed the characters one by one –  _Miyako-san, I'm sorry to bother you, but are you busy right now?_ (The message had gone under a few revisions, as he felt saying something like "I want to talk to you about something" would probably start making her panic.)

"And sent."

He sighed, tracing his finger up and down the side of the phone, before there was finally a ping –  _ah, it's not much! I'm in the Digital World right now, though._

The incredulous look on Ken and Wormmon's faces was one that wouldn't feel out of place with some physical manifestations of steam behind them. The Digital World? The fact that Miyako was acting out of the ordinary couldn't be more obvious – if she'd wanted to go, she could have easily done it with any suitable computer, but it seemed like she'd specifically gone to someplace like Odaiba Elementary where she wouldn't be seen by people she knew closely.

_Is it okay if I come meet you?_

He was treading on thin ice, he knew it – and was thus incredibly relieved to find the response reading something positive.  _Oh! Yeah, that's perfectly fine. See you soon!_

"Let's go, Ken-chan," said Wormmon.

"Yeah."

* * *

Ken's presence in the computer club room caused quite a few heads to be turned, since they weren't used to seeing this boy from Tamachi and his Digimon there. On the bright side, Daisuke turned out to be extremely good at keeping the entire situation under wraps – when one person had asked what kind of "important business" Ken was here for, Daisuke had responded with "it's nothing you should worry about". Considering Daisuke's gravity about the issue, it immediately shut everyone up.

Koushirou deftly operated the computer, as he'd custom-modded the program to pick up Digivices from people in their friend circle only (a remnant from his middle school days).

After Koushirou had finished up and sat down, Ken took a last look around the room. Koushirou was busy burying his face into a reference book, (badly) attempting to hide a stupid grin on his face. Ken was a bit distressed that this entire situation was starting to have hints of public spectacle, but he was willing to take it as long as it ended up reflecting on him and not Miyako.

Sighing – and trusting Daisuke to take care of the situation behind him – he entered the Digital Gate.

* * *

Of all the reactions Miyako could have presented Ken with upon encounter, the one he was probably least expecting was the one where she immediately started apologizing in a frenzy.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I've been making all of these excuses...I've been really scared, and so every time I had a way out I took it without thinking..."

"Miyako-san, I'm sure he understands," said Hawkmon.

"B-but...!"

He knew it was a bit mean of him to do so when Miyako was frantically panicking in front of him, but Ken couldn't help but start laughing – first as a stifled giggle and finally laughing earnestly. Miyako, who definitely had not expected him to react in this way, was only confused.

This entire situation was amazingly ludicrous, layers of tiptoeing upon tiptoeing. Miyako had blurted her confession out one month prior and was now dodging around, and Ken had been forced to maneuver around said dodging in order to get to her directly. It was crazy, it was unpredictable – it was precisely indicative of Miyako herself.

Ken smiled gently.

"You shouldn't be too harsh on yourself...we really didn't have a lot of opportunities, and it was my fault too for not giving you a proper answer last time, so..." He pulled out a small box and handed it to her. "So..."

"A-ah! Thank you!" She took the box, looked at it, looked back at Ken, looked back at the box, and looked back at Ken, her facial expression slowly registering what was going on. "S-so...you mean...aaaah!"

Not so blut as to let the words just spill out, Ken laughed softly again. "Um...so, if you want to go out with me..."

"A-aaah! I – I..."

Miyako's words were saying nothing, but her face was clearly at its most enthusiastic.

 _What do_ you _think about Miyako?_  Daisuke had asked.

Miyako was right in front of him, the unpredictable, easily-flustered, excitable, passionate Miyako who acted on whims and wouldn't beat around the bush.

Miyako was Miyako. That was the Miyako he knew.


	12. August 2008 – Night in Summer

_It's me, Inoue Miyako!_

_So, you might have heard it already, but I have a boyfriend! I've been dating Ken-kun for a few months now, and we're both still kind of getting used to it, but it's definitely working out!_

_I don't meant to sound all lovey-dovey, but he's really good to me, and I'm doing my best to be good to him. By all means, you could say we're a happy couple!_

_But you know, dating's not at all like I expected to be. Ah, I'm not trying to say it's a letdown or anything like that! It's just, you know, people talk about it all the time, but my experiences are turning out very different. Hm, maybe it's different for everyone?_

_I guess I shouldn't really be prattling on about this when I don't know much about it..._

* * *

"Hey! You're late!"

Daisuke scoffed at Miyako (being followed by Hawkmon) arriving in her yukata, although his face was clearly smiling. "We were just about to go off without you!"

Hikari giggled, while Miyako only responded with "...yeah, like you'd actually do that."

Before this conversation could continue further, Ken himself appeared from behind. "I'm sorry I'm late..."

"Hey, no rush, no rush."

"That's not what you said with  _me_ ," protested Miyako.

"Last time I checked, you weren't coming in from Tamachi..."

"Well, now that everyone's here, we should get going, shouldn't we?" said Takeru.

"We should, but..." Daisuke put a finger to his chin, looking deep in thought.

"What is it, Daisuke-san?" said Iori.

Smirking broadly, Daisuke pointed at Miyako, and then at Ken. "You know, this is a special event. Shouldn't we let the lovebirds have the day to themselves?"

"L-Lovebirds?!" yelled Miyako.

"I mean. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to deliberately exclude you from having fun with us or something like that, but this  _is_  a festival, isn't it? It feels like a bit of a crime not to let you have this to yourselves..."

"B-but – " started Ken.

"I think it's a good idea," said Takeru. "And you have our numbers if you want to meet up with us again, right?"

Daisuke nodded smugly. "Well, you two have fun, okay? Bye!"

"Oi, wait – "

But before the two could protest any further, the rest had detached themselves and gone off, Daisuke dragging Hawkmon and Wormmon behind him before they could make some kind of protest. Miyako angrily put her hands on her hips.

"Honestly! How rude, making decisions like that all by themselves..."

"Well..." said Ken, "not much we can do about it, I guess..."

Both of them sighed in unison.

"Should we go find something to do, then?" said Ken.

"Yeah," said Miyako.

The two of them headed off for the stalls aimlessly.

* * *

"...hyaaaah!"

Miyako threw her arms up in frustration, the torn poi sinking into the water. "After the fifth one, I should probably give it a rest, but I keep thinking something stupid along the lines of 'this time I'll do it'..."

"Just try it a little slower."

"I've tried that, but..." Miyako sighed and paid the stall vendor again. "One more, please."

"Want me to do it?" said Ken.

"Mm, it's okay, I want to do it."

"Then do you want me to help you?"

"Hm?"

Ken wrapped his fingers around the poi Miyako was holding, with his lower fingers overlapping her upper fingers and lowered it into the water.

"Which one do you want to try for?"

"A-ah? Oh! That one, that one right there. The one that looks kind of absent-minded."

"Okay."

Pulling the poi with Miyako also clutching it, Ken guided hand and poi through the water very slowly and carefully. It was at the kind of slow speed that Miyako would have never had the patience to execute on her own, but with Ken keeping her hand steady, she didn't feel particularly pressured to push the poi too quickly.

About a minute later, the poi was out of the water with the goldfish successfully on the paper.

"Whoa, Ken-kun, you're really good at this kind of thing."

"You think so?"

"Yeah."

Ken looked back at the poi, handing it to the manager of the stall. "Do you want the fish?"

"Me?" said Miyako. "You're the one who got it, though..."

"I don't really trust myself to take good care of a fish...I don't really know a lot about them. So I think it'd be better to give it to someone who'd raise it well rather than torturing it..."

"Hm, you're probably right. But you know, I don't really know much about fish either...maybe we should just put it back and let others try their hand at it?"

"Are you okay with that?"

"I mean, we caught the goldfish, so that's good enough for me." She turned to the stall manager. "Ah, I'm sorry for making you pull the bag out and all that, but we're not going to be taking that..."

* * *

Miyako tapped her foot impatiently as she waited in line. Ken had run into a classmate who had wanted to talk to him about school for a bit, so Miyako had offered to pick up some food.

"Hey, Miyako."

Daisuke came up and approached her, a plastic mask from some tokusatsu show dangling off the side of his head. In the distance, Miyako could see the rest of the group at a cork shooting stall, with Iori struggling to hit the target.

"How's the date going?"

"Hmph. You're the one that forced me into it."

"Okay, okay. Maybe I overstepped a bit. Sorry about that. Still, though..." He sighed. "It felt a little sad, though, watching you two. Never getting to go on dates because he's a workaholic and you're studying for university admissions tests. Always at cram school."

"I'm still managing fine, though..."

"You might be, but what about Ken?"

"Ah - " Miyako sighed and hung her head a bit. "Well...I mean, if he wants to, I'll..."

"Listen, Miyako," said Daisuke. "You need to come to me for advice more often. I have the benefit of knowing things as his friend. Obviously I can't tell you everything because that's personal for him, you know, but...well. I'm sure you could use a little hint once in a while."

"A hint...are we treating this like some kind of quiz game?"

"Nah. But I mean, you could use something or other." He looked back at the group, where Hikari was now fumbling with the cork shooting gun. "Well, I've got to get back, but let me start you off."

"Eh?"

Daisuke walked past her and, before departing, whispered in her ear: "He doesn't always say up front what he's thinking. Just because he doesn't say anything about something doesn't mean he's not interested."

He walked away, waving his hand slowly as if to say "good luck".

Miyako frowned irritably at him walking away, still miffed that he'd put her in this situation.

* * *

"Is it good?"

"Yeah."

Finishing the last of her dango off her stick, Miyako sighed. "So, then...what do we do next?"

"It's getting late, so we should go watch the fireworks, right?"

"Yeah, you're right."

Slowly, they headed to the viewing point. Ken seemed to be handling himself well, but as Miyako looked at the empty stick that had once held dango on it, she realized she was holding in an abnormally large amount of frustration and stress.

She had no clue what she should be doing in this situation. They'd been hanging out casually for the duration of this event, with occasional small talk. It felt like there was something missing.

The two of them sat down, waiting for the fireworks to start. Miyako couldn't help but keep holding her breath, with all sorts of thoughts running through her head.

Here she was, at what one could easily say would be an extremely romantic situation – here she was in a situation Daisuke was deliberately setting up for this purpose, but it wasn't at all like the way a romantic date should be.  _What kind of girlfriend am I?_  she thought.

The first firework went up.

"Ah, it's started!" said Ken.

Miyako watched the fireworks, her face smiling but her stomach still in a knot. This was a romantic date. She was at what was considered by many to be one of the most romantic parts of a festival, and all she was doing was staring like an idiot.

"...Miyako-san?"

"A-aah! Ah? Yeah?"

Ken looked at Miyako questioningly. "You look worried about something. Are you okay?"

"A-ah..."

"If you're worried about something...if you're willing to tell me, could you?"

"K-Ken-kun!"

"Ah, I mean, if it's not something you can talk about, that's fine! It's just..." He looked at the fireworks again. "...I'm really happy right now. Really, really happy...watching the fireworks with you like this, so..." At this point, he was blushing a bit.

It was at this moment Miyako realized how unfounded her worries had been. Here she had been worrying about this whole situation being unusually awkward, the  _what kind of girlfriend am I?_  sort of feeling...and now Daisuke's words finally made sense to her.

_He doesn't always say up front what he's thinking. Just because he doesn't say anything about something doesn't mean he's not interested._

Ken hadn't said much over the course of this entire date, but it was very possible he had really, truly been enjoying it. Miyako herself could easily admit that had been so busy with cram school and studying to get into university that she hadn't been able to hang out with her own boyfriend as much as she liked...he probably had been hoping for more chances to hang out with her as well, even if he didn't directly say it.

Miyako's thoughts finally trailed back to where they were, but in a different context:  _What kind of girlfriend am I?!_

Now irritated at her own idiocy, not quite thinking properly, and acting long before she thought about any potential consequences of her actions, Miyako grabbed Ken and kissed him.

It was incredibly satisfying.

Releasing herself, Miyako realized exactly what she had just done and started panicking again as Ken looked at her in shock. The thoughts sailing through Miyako's head were variants of  _what did I just do I shouldn't have done that help me –_

Ken began laughing softly.

"Y-you're not mad?" said Miyako.

"Why would I be mad? We  _are_  dating, after all...and it was pretty funny."

"...hey!"

"I'm just telling the truth!"

Miyako was blushing furiously, but was immensely relieved as Ken continued laughing.

They'd had their first kiss under festival fireworks. It still looked pretty romantic on paper; not many could attest to being as fortunate.

* * *

As Ken and Miyako met up with the others again, Miyako caught Daisuke's eye. Miyako's pride would not allow her to do something as huge as thank him for what he had done that night, but she allowed a passive shrug in this direction.

Daisuke, getting the message, smirked as if to say  _I told you so._


	13. March 2008 – Bigger Aims

_It's me, Inoue Miyako!_

_For us third-years, it's a really important time for us, university examination results publishing! You know, it's funny that I really didn't give much regard to the whole "oh no, what university am I going to get into" until I had to start studying for them..._

_I hear that in places like America, they mail you your results. Hm, I don't know I like or don't like that more..._

_To all you other third-years out there, hang in there!_

* * *

 "Are you sure?"

"No worries. It's my treat."

Miyako took her seat while Jou adjusted his bag on the other side of the table. After he'd settled himself, he looked back at Miyako and smiled expectantly. "So? The results?"

"Didn't make it."

"Hmmmmm, well, that's too bad. Don't be too hard on yourself, though."

"Nah. I mean, I'm a bit disappointed, but I've still got other options, so..."

"Does anyone else know?"

"Just you and Poromon."

A waiter came by and took their orders, with Miyako getting some cake for herself and Poromon. After the waiter had left, Jou sighed.

"Well, it really is a shame...Shuu-niisan is going to be disappointed."

"Shuu-san? Why him?"

Jou laughed a bit.

"I guess you wouldn't know, but apparently Koushirou's been talking nonstop about you, to the point where Shuu-niisan can't stop talking about how he can't stop talking about you. It's not like he specifically goes out of his way, but he keeps saying things like, 'oh, this would be so much easier with Miyako-kun, she's good at this'. You must have left quite an impression on him in your club."

"Heh, well, I wouldn't say I'm  _that_ talented..."

The waiter returned with some tea for Jou and the ordered cake. Jou took a sip of the tea and sighed.

"Hm, you keep saying things like you're not that talented, but it takes a lot to do so well on the Center to begin with. Making it to the University of Tokyo exam...even if you didn't get in, in the end, you've still accomplished quite a lot."

"If you put it that way..."

As Miyako took a bite out of her cake, she wondered what Jou was making a big fuss about. She'd never really thought of herself as a particularly smart person when it came to academics. Compared to the Kido family, or Koushirou, she always felt like she'd been just following, and she was fine with that – she never found it necessary to worry about things that she could and couldn't do, since everything she did was for fun. It'd been quite a surprise when she'd qualified for the University of Tokyo secondary examination, but considering that she'd never thought she'd make it past the second stage, this had only confirmed her idea of herself.

It wasn't that she'd thought of herself poorly; she knew what she was capable of, but she'd never thought of it as a big deal.

"You know," said Miyako, "when we were in the computer club together, it was always Senpai calling the shots. I was captain the year he wasn't there and absolutely nothing got done. So I mean, I'm good with computers and all that, and there's a lot I can do when it comes to the Digital World and our Digivices, or back when Yamato-san had a band, but..." She scratched her head awkwardly and laughed. "Things that schools like, I'm not that great at it anyway."

"Are you're saying you got through the first Center with luck, Miyako-san?" said Poromon.

"Not like that! I mean..."

Jou was pursing his lips, thinking deeply.

"Well, how do I put it...to be honest, I don't think I'm that naturally smart either."

"But you got into the University of Tokyo..."

"I've been studying for that practically my entire life, you know," said Jou. "Shin-niisan and Shuu-niisan, too. Our family likes people who study hard, so we've all been working at it...so, I mean, you need to consider the fact you did so well on the Center already indicates how much you're capable of. You should be proud of yourself, anyway; from what I heard from Ken-kun and Hikari-chan, apparently you were really dedicated to your studies over the past year."

"I didn't make it into the university in the end, though."

"You weren't expecting to get to that point, so you were taken by surprise. That's a different story."

Miyako continued cutting pieces of the cake and fed a piece of it to Poromon. She still wasn't convinced.

"But, Miyako-san," said Poromon, "either way, you still got into the university you were intending to go to in the beginning, right?"

"Yeah," she said. "I mean, I'm not going to lie and say something like 'I'm not disappointed', but I don't see a real reason to worry about this kind of thing! I got into a school I like, and it's not like I can do anything about the fact I didn't get into the University of Tokyo, anyway..."

Jou raised an eyebrow, but said nothing, and as Miyako took another bite of cake she wondered if he were trying to imply something.

* * *

 

"Miyako-san, are you worried about something?"

"Mm, not really."

"Miyako-san, it's one in the morning; if you're up this late,  _something_ must be bothering you..."

Miyako sighed and clutched at her blankets.

"I guess you're right, I'm worried a little bit. I've been thinking about what Jou-senpai said earlier today..."

"What in particular?"

"He said Koushirou kept talking about me...I know he's aiming to get an internship with Sora's dad, and, I mean, that'd be pretty cool, I'd like to help him, there aren't a lot of things right now doing serious research on the Digital World..."

"So you regret not getting in?"

"Well, I mean, it's ridiculous for me to think I'd get in the first time! It's not easy, you know, getting into something like that...it's just, you know, now I've started thinking about what Jou-senpai said, that maybe the result would have been different if I'd been prepared for this from the get-go, that kind of thing. So now I'm really curious what would have happened..."

There was an awkward silence as she considered her situation.

"...I could try again, theoretically..."

"Is that possible?"

"I could take another year off and try again. I don't know if the result will be any different. But, I mean, we're talking about the University of Tokyo here. Chances are I won't, and I mean, it's a big deal for me to try again for another year, especially when I already got into a university I like..."

"You don't have to make a quick decision right now, Miyako-san," said Poromon.

"Yeah, you're right."

Miyako turned around in her blankets to face the ceiling. While it'd be a bit of a stretch to say she was deciding on the spot, there was a bit of appeal to the idea, even though doing so would be an incredibly drastic move. She knew a bit of what to expect this time, and she'd be studying alongside Hikari and Ken and Daisuke and the others, which would certainly make it a different experience.

It wasn't very likely that she would make it – but the most important part was that she wouldn't regret it.


	14. October 2008 – A Slight Lack of Ambition

_Inoue Miyako here!_

_Due to certain circumstances going on right now, I'm not exactly a senior to Daisuke and the others anymore! Daisuke was teasing me all about it here and there. Hmph, I'd like to see_ him _in a similar situation!_

_Oh, but by "Daisuke and the others" I don't mean Iori. That would be a bit embarrassing...but even Iori's trying his hardest! I guess that means I can't let up either, huh..._

_Unless I put my all into it, I'm going to fall even further behind. Inoue Miyako charges full speed ahead!_

* * *

 

"Hey. You're slacking."

The five members of the study group, huddled around the table, were spending their hours in a side room of the library. The room was supposedly soundproof, and Miyako could only hope so given that the amount of ruckus from the combined noises of the Digimon playing around and the kids making conversation while slacking off was probably bound to disturb anyone in the area within reasonable earshot.

"You shouldn't be so strict on them, Miyako-san," said Hawkmon.

"That's easy for you to say when you aren't the ones who need to study."

"But I'm so tired..." complained Daisuke. "It's not like the exam's tomorrow or anything. Let us off the hook, just a bit, for now..."

"Doesn't matter! The Center is not the kind of test that you can just cram for at the last minute! So get back to work!"

"Hm, well, she has a point," said Takeru. "The exam date's getting closer and we need to pick up our pace a bit. But then, Miyako-san, I think you need to let us have a break once in a while..."

Miyako sighed.

"Well, all of you are my responsibility! If all of you do horribly on the Center despite the fact I've taken it and I've been here to help you out, that'd just be shameful..."

"But you know, Miyako," said Daisuke, "you shouldn't be so on us about this...I mean, we're studying, but as long as we don't slack off entirely, we're not going to do absolutely dreadful, you know..."

"That's not a good attitude to have!" yelled Miyako indignantly. "You're the one who said you give everything you've got just yesterday in that soccer match!"

Acknowledging Miyako's argument, Daisuke sighed in irritation and opened the book.

* * *

"Daisuke-kun, are there any universities you're particularly interested in?" said Takeru.

"Hm?"

Daisuke didn't even turn his head up from the book to face him, only acknowledging the question with the fact he'd stopped twirling his pen. "Well, I told you all, I want to open a ramen shop. If this whole university thing doesn't work out, I'm probably going to find a chef to work under..."

"That's pretty bold," said Takeru.

"It's Daisuke, I'm sure he can do it!" said V-mon, lazily eating a chocolate pastry underneath Daisuke's chair.

"I mean, it's not that I'm trying to half-ass school or slack off, or anything like that. But the important part is that I can make a good bowl of ramen," said Daisuke. "So, I mean, even if I do great in school, my real focus should be making the best ramen in the world. No point in making ramen if the ramen isn't good, right?"

"Maybe you're right, but you shouldn't completely give up on school," said Ken.

"So then what about you guys? I bet you guys are all gunning for top universities or something. You're all too smart for me..."

There was an awkward silence among the group. Miyako didn't feel a need to reiterate what she was doing – everyone present already knew more than well enough her intent for the year – but it was clear that nobody else in the vicinity had really put all that much thought into it other than the general list of what they were applying to.

Finally, Hikari broke the silence - "I'm aiming for a spot for a university for teachers..."

"Hikari's going to be a wonderful teacher someday," said Tailmon.

"In the future, there are going to be children who will grow up with Digimon, so I want to make sure I can take care of them well..."

"I'm sure you'll be great, Hikari-chan," said Daisuke. "So then. Takeru?"

"I'm applying to a handful of different universities," said Takeru. "I'd ideally like to get into somewhere with a good humanities department, though I'm not entirely sure where to specialize."

Daisuke gave a sage nod, while Miyako followed up with "Any reason for humanities in particular?"

"Hm, nothing in particular, just a gut feeling."

Takeru was giving his usual easygoing smile, and it would have been easy to fall into the trap that he was projecting about that being the case, of him legitimately having "just a gut feeling" – but the glance he was exchanging with Patamon gave him away immediately. Miyako shot a quick glance at Hikari and Ken – they seemed to have noticed as well – but Daisuke was utterly oblivious, and Miyako wondered what Iori would think if he were present.

As it was, however, Takeru didn't seem eager to divulge the reason for whatever personal purpose, and so Daisuke and Miyako turned their attentions to Ken.

"You've been working pretty hard, Ken," said Daisuke. "Trying to get into Todai as well? It'd be pretty cool if both you and Miyako could go."

Ken laughed, half nervously.

"Well, to be honest...I'm not entirely sure. I've been thinking of a lot of options, but I'm not sure if any of them fit."

"Really? The way you work so hard, I thought you'd have something in mind," said Daisuke. "Well, I guess it's not a huge thing to worry about since we're so young, as long as you know you're working towards something in the end."

Ken nodded. "Well, I mean...I at least know I want to do something helpful, for everyone, and for the Digimon..."

Daisuke and Miyako stared at Ken in awe.

"...So pure-hearted," said Miyako.

"That's our Ken," said Daisuke.

Now slightly more at ease, Ken laughed a bit as Daisuke adjusted awkwardly in his seat.

"...but my point still stands, you know, you guys are all so good at this school thing. If I'm going to make the kind of ramen that puts a smile on the face of everyone who eats it, I need to make better ramen, I somehow feel like I should be spending more time on the ramen than the food..."

"Still, though..." said Ken.

Miyako sighed – or, more accurately, she let out a huge groan of exasperation that caused everyone to become startled (to the point where Chibimon, who was eating a bar of chocolate on the table, fell off entirely).

"You know, Daisuke, you ought to not be more flippant about this whole thing..."

"Eh? And what do you mean by that?"

"I  _mean_ , I don't think you should just throw away one idea just because it sounds inconvenient, you know?"

Daisuke made an expression that Miyako recognized deeply – the one where he wanted to acknowledge her point, but couldn't do so out of still wanting to look cool.

"Well, think about it, Daisuke," said Ken, "she does have a point, I mean – even if it doesn't help you cook much, something like a business degree might be helpful for setting up a ramen shop. Or even if it's not like that, you'll probably get some helpful use out of it."

"...man, you two are way too smart on me. I need to be careful around you two when both of you are around..."

But despite what he had just said, he willingly went back to studying the book. Miyako smirked; she loved being right, especially when Daisuke was involved.


	15. May 2009 – Fear of the Unknown

May 2009 – Fear of the Unknown

* * *

_How are you all? It's me, Inoue Miyako!_

_Hey, hey, hey, you want to know something cool? I got in! I have to say I'm pretty proud of myself for getting in, even if it took me two tries!_

_I'm meeting a lot of new people, though I'm still working pretty closely with Professor Takenouchi's research lab. There are still a lot of things we have to learn, so we're really busy!_

_Aside from that, life has been pretty different. Ken and Hikari-chan are still in Tokyo. Iori too, obviously. Not so much for Takeru-kun, who went up north for university. Daisuke too – can you believe it, he went to America! Well, both of them still keep in contact all the time, so everything's good._

_Everything happens so fast, you know?_

* * *

It was a frantic case that had attracted the attention of the media.

Under normal circumstances, such a thing would have been considered a mere accident – the child had run across the street at the wrong moment only to meet an untimely death from an approaching truck head-on. While certainly tragic, accidents like this happened every day; incidents like these generally did not merit more than one news report, provided they had one at all.

There were two significant things about this particular case. Firstly, the child had a Digimon. Despite the ever-increasing number of children receiving Digimon all around the world, not every child had a Digimon, and the combination of this incident and this fact led to greater interest. Secondly – and likely the reason the story had exploded – was that on top of this, the Digimon had mysteriously disappeared after the child's death. Parental reports had dictated that the two were very close, so it was an oddity for the Digimon to suddenly disappear.

From the neutral outsider's perspective, there were many potential explanations for this, including that the Digimon was hiding from emotional shame or had also been killed in the accident. Yet the incident had become the perfect opportunity for those dissenters who still weren't fully warmed up to the idea of Digimon in human society to exploit public opinion. From that perspective, the idea put forth was that the Digimon suddenly disappearing upon the child's death was incredibly fishy – the extremists even suggested that the Digimon had played an active part in the accident.

As a result, the incident that, according to some interpretations, should not even merited such received an investigation. It was one that was horribly flawed to the core; the police department knew vanishingly little about Digimon in general. Unwilling to take the word of a bunch of children who were intimately familiar with the subject, the department instead turned to the next best thing.

This was where Takenouchi Haruhiko's lab came in.

The lab was already burdened with papers and grants and deadlines, and this extra task was not necessarily welcomed easily. But in any case, the members of the lab immediately knew that this was one of their most important projects. It was one of the best dedicated Digimon-related research departments within Japan, with the combination of Takenouchi Haruhiko's expertise in otherworldly matters and various lab members' experiences with Digimon. This case had the potential to be a landmark one regarding public perception of Digimon and the relevant politics.

It was up to them to figure out the truth.

That said, Miyako wasn't able to take a completely active part in the situation. Being a first-year meant being relegated to grunt work, which she was perfectly okay with given the circumstances. It did mean that she was rather out of the loop for what was going on until she was reported the results, which she only got to have the benefits of analyzing. It would take a few more years of experience for her to be able to receive more work for the lab; as it was, however, she was more than busy enough with the work she already had.

She sat around at her desk with Hawkmon taking a nap behind her, while she irritably chewed the end of a pen and typed away. Miyako had been through a rather long week of classwork, homework, lab work, and other things; the only non-work related thing she had to look forward to was that she was set for going out for a movie with Ken over the following weekend.

She was still processing a particularly difficult set of data when Koushirou entered the room from the door behind her, Tentomon flying by his side.

"Um...Miyako-kun..."

Miyako's head darted up from the computer screen. "Ah! Did we get the test results?"

"Yes, we did. Well...ah, can we talk outside?"

This immediately piqued Miyako's attention. "Can we talk outside?" was generally code for the situation being one where Koushirou needed to talk to a fellow Chosen Child he'd known as long as her; even though he trusted the other members of the lab, there were certain subjects he found it more prudent to discuss with her. Miyako quickly picked up any vital belongings she had and exited the room with a groggy Hawkmon behind her in tow, Koushirou and Tentomon following them.

* * *

"So was it anything interesting?"

Koushirou shifted a bit, somewhat nervously. It was rare for Miyako to see him like this; typically he tried to carry himself very confidently in the lab except in situations where he was legitimately caught off guard, and so Miyako was probably the only person in the lab he allowed himself to show this kind of nervousness to.

"...We still haven't told the forensics department yet, because I'm not sure they would completely understand the situation. But we investigated the circumstances of the incident and the area around it. There seem to be lingering traces of the Digimon there..."

"So that means?"

"It means the Digimon certainly lost its life there."

"So it really died in the accident, then?"

Koushirou shook his head.

"Given the type of Digimon and the degree of the incident, I don't think it to be very likely that the accident was the cause of death. This only means there's one reasonable conclusion..."

"...which is?"

Koushirou looked nervously at Tentomon and back at Miyako, unable to say something.

"Koushirou-han..." said Tentomon.

"...it seems the Digimon died right when or shortly after the victim. In other words, their lives were connected. The human partner dying meant that..."

His voice faltered; the confidence he'd been carefully gathering over the past few years, his presence in the lab having become more assertive had no place in a situation like this. Taking the sentence in carefully, she looked at Hawkmon, who was saying nothing.

"Please don't tell anyone about this until after we turn the results in," said Koushirou, looking slightly winded from just having said that alone.

* * *

"You look troubled, Miyako-san..."

It hadn't necessarily been a particularly shocking thing for them to find out as much as it had simply been a lot to swallow. If what Koushirou had said were true, this likely set a precedent. This was what being a Digimon partnered to a human literally meant.

"...Hawkmon, what do you think?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, when I die, that means you're going to end up taken with me." Unlike Koushirou's hesitancy regarding the subject, Miyako was perfectly willing to say it straight, but it didn't change her audible discomfort. "So, since this directly involves you, I want to know what you directly have to say in the matter..."

"About things like living and dying?"

"Something like that."

Hawkmon took a minute to briefly consider the question.

"I suppose you could say that we as Digimon perceive death in a different manner from how humans do, since humans don't have the luxury of returning as DigiEggs, however...the concept of death as humans perceive it is not unknown to us, since it can happen for various reasons."

"But then, to know you're going to be offed with me...oh, no, I'm sorry, I shouldn't put it so bluntly. I mean, though..."

"Not really, Miyako-san."

Miyako stopped in her tracks, having spent the last few minutes walking around with no clear direction in the midst of her conversation with Hawkmon. "Hm?"

"Perhaps it's a little selfish of me to talk solely in terms of myself, but...I was born to be sealed under a Digimental so that you could find me. I believe any Digimon who is partnered to a human is similar.. Therefore, it would only make sense that we're bound by fate in this way..."

It was then Miyako immediately understood what Hawkmon was trying to avoid saying – with Hawkmon having near-entirely been born to meet her and be her partner; in a way, they shared their lives with each other. Miyako wondered if it were better this way, even if there was something viscerally sad about it; if she'd had to leave Hawkmon alone to live the rest of eternity without –

She shook her head, immediately trying to forget that. "Hm, maybe you're right. Hey, I'm sorry for bringing up such a heavy-handed topic."

"It's fine; I enjoy talking about this kind of thing with you. But if you want, perhaps we can talk about something a bit less severe?"

"Hm, hm, whatever works."

Miyako smiled, but internally she had the sort of nervousness that came with intentionally dodging a topic. In the end, however, she knew it didn't really matter that much as long as she and Hawkmon were on the same page and understood each other's feelings on the subject.


	16. December 2009 – A Winter's Tale

_Inoue Miyako here!_

_It's gotten cold again. I mean, of course it has, it's winter! It really has been getting cold lately, so I hope everyone's warm._

_As for me...well, I've got a lot of work to do. I've said it before, but being an adult is hard! Still, I guess that means on things like holidays I can really enjoy them to the fullest! I like looking at things this way, it gives me a lot to look forward to..._

* * *

 

It was yet another Christmas, and this time (without being dragged into some huge setup scheme) everything was relatively quiet. The festivities and included party had all happened the night before; besides, everyone who happened to be dating was busy going on a date on what was supposedly the most romantic night of the year.

In fact, considering the hustle and bustle of the year behind her and the mild crowds of people (many of whom were also on dates) around her, Miyako's evening date was going rather quietly. With Hawkmon and Wormmon asleep on their laps, the two of them were satisfied with sitting on a bench, people-watching and making comments. This was a night where the most interesting aspect of the night had comprised of Miyako making commentary on people walking by with Ken laughing softly.

A night as quiet at that, obviously, called for a huge distraction.

* * *

 

As was par for the course, what first called their attention to it was not the incident itself but the number of panicked, screaming people running away from it. Upon a situation like this, Miyako was immediately presented with two options: run over to see what was going on, or flee with the crowd.

In Miyako's world, the second option did not exist.

Hauling Hawkmon as fast as she could and grabbing Ken (who had to scramble to pick Wormmon up in time)'s hand, she darted for the source of interest as fast as she could so she could get a good look at what was going on. She didn't have to run far to find that there was a huge stampede of Tuskmon coming out of the nearest Yurikamome station.

“...How _do_ they even all fit in there?”

“Miyako-san, should we go?” said Hawkmon, pointing at Miyako's Digivice.

“All right, let's – ”

Her words were immediately cut off by the sounds of a bunch of kids on flying Digimon, yelling various things related to the situation.

“There's the gate!”

“I can't believe they're already this far – ”

“ – this is bad, everyone's in a panic, and on a holiday at that – ”

“ – get out of the way, I can't see – ”

It was a small group of kids, about four or five, headed towards the station. Ken and Miyako were only barely within viewing distance, so by the time the kids reached the station the two of them couldn't even hear the attack calls. They stood there with their Digimon, frozen in place as lights went off in the distance.

“Miyako-san...” said Hawkmon.

“A-ah?”

“Should we leave?”

Miyako looked at Hawkmon, back at the fight, back at Ken, back at the fight.

“...Yeah. Let's go.”

* * *

 

“...Do you think it was a good idea, leaving them like that?”

The two of them had taken shelter (of sorts) at Miyako's place, since it obviously would not be safe for Ken to take the Yurikamome like this. They doubted the station would be in a usable state after this, so Miyako wondered if Ken was going to have to sleep in Mantarou's old room again – it was a situation that had occurred before in circumstances she liked to not revisit.

“From the looks of it, I think they had it pretty well under control,” said Ken.

“True...”

Miyako lay her head on Ken's lap, sighing deeply.

“Hey, I have a question.”

“Hm?”

“What'd you think of those kids? The ones who went after all the Digimon, I mean.”

“What do you mean, what did I think?”

“I mean. They all looked like they had it under control...I think they looked pretty cool. What do you think?”

Ken smiled and nodded. “Hm, I would say so.”

Miyako pursed her lips, thinking back, and Ken suddenly anticipated her question before she even asked it. Knowing how she thought – she was thinking back to December of 2002, during the incidents when all those things had happened –

“I wonder if we looked that cool back then,” she said.

A small laugh from Ken.

“Nothing saying we can't still be cool like that.”

“What's with you, always bringing in one-liners like that whenever I least expect it...”

Still keeping her head on his lap, Miyako turned to face Wormmon and Hawkmon nearby, who were sleeping once again. Ken was probably going to end up staying the night. _Ah, well,_ she thought, _I'm not really complaining about how this Christmas turned out._


End file.
